U.S. captures radical cleric's aide

Iraqis unclear whether al-Maliki knew of plan

BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi troops raided a Baghdad holy site early Friday and arrested a top aide to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr. But it was unclear whether the government of besieged Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was warned of the operation in advance.

Meanwhile, the top U.S. commander in Iraq suggested that some of the new wave of American troops to be deployed in Iraq as part of a crackdown on Shiite militias could return home as early as late summer, depending on how well Iraqi forces step up to the task of securing the capital.

Friday's raid and arrest of the official, identified by Iraqi sources as Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, drew a quick condemnation from Sadr's office in Najaf, where a spokesman promised countrywide demonstrations.

"Let the Americans know that in these provocative acts against the Sadr movement they are playing with fire," said Abdul-Razzaq al-Nidawi. "And we will wait for the orders of Sayid Moqtada regarding the arrest."

A recently unveiled Baghdad security plan involving the deployment of additional U.S. troops hinges on whether Iraqi security forces can--or will--clamp down on Shiite militias, such as Sadr's Mahdi Army. Gunmen loyal to Sadr have long been suspected of fomenting much of the violence.

Significance unclear

However, the significance of al-Darraji's arrest remains unclear. In the past, al-Maliki's government has forced U.S. troops to release suspected militiamen affiliated with Sadr, whom he relies upon for political support. And there was confusion Friday about whether al-Maliki had been informed of the raid.

One spokesman told Al-Arabiya television that the operation took place without the prime minister's knowledge. But another al-Maliki official said the Iraqi government supports the arrest.

The U.S. military did not name al-Darraji but said in a statement that special Iraqi army forces and their U.S. advisers detained a "high-level, illegal armed group leader" in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood. Sadr officials and an Iraqi government spokesman said the captured man was al-Darriji.

As well as leading a group suspected of torturing and killing Iraqi civilians, al-Darraji has allegedly been involved in assassinating Iraqi security forces and government officials, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Also on Friday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Iraq, touching down in the southern city of Basra where Shiite militias are engaged in a campaign against the 7,000 British forces there. Gates met with Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as the British commander.

Troops' return

In a news conference with Gates at Tallil Air Base, Casey indicated that some of the extra troops President Bush is sending could start returning home by late summer but that it depended on the Iraqi government fulfilling its pledges of adding troops and taking an aggressive approach, The Associated Press reported.

"I think it's probably going to be the summer, late summer, before you get to the point where people in Baghdad feel safe in their neighborhoods," Casey said.

Elsewhere in Iraq, violence continued. At least 27 people were killed or found dead as a result of sectarian violence across the country Friday.

A roadside bomb killed one U.S. soldier and wounded three others in an attack Thursday against a patrol escorting a convoy in northwestern Baghdad, the military said Friday.

Separately, a Cabinet-level committee in the Iraqi government has produced a draft law to govern Iraq's oil fields that would distribute all revenues through the federal government and grant Baghdad wide powers in exploration, development and awarding international contracts, The New York Times reported.

The draft, described Friday by several members of the committee, could still change and must be approved by the Iraqi Cabinet and parliament before it becomes law. But it comes down strongly on the side of central oversight, a decision that advocates for Iraq's unity are likely to cite as a victory, the Times reported.

"This will give us the basis of the unity of this country," said Ali Baban, the Iraqi planning minister and a member of the Sunni-dominated Tawafuq party who serves on the negotiating committee. "We pushed for the center in Baghdad, but we didn't neglect the Kurds and other regions," Baban said.